


Those Ancient Lullabies

by emperors_girl



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Implied Mpreg, M/M, POV Child
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 05:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12269979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emperors_girl/pseuds/emperors_girl
Summary: When David gets to the bottom of the stairs, he peeks around the corner at the people in the living room. The blue cat man is there, and he’s arguing with a tall skinny man who’s wearing a black shirt and pants. They both look mad.





	Those Ancient Lullabies

**Author's Note:**

> Now with Inception shenanigans

David stays with the blue cat man when his Papa goes away. He doesn’t like it at first because he misses his Papa and because the blue cat man is scary. But David gets used to things, and anyway, he figures it out after a while: the blue cat man isn’t mean at all, even if his claws and teeth are sharp. He’s just shy, and that’s something David knows all about. Papa tells people all the time that David is shy, but that’s not really the truth. David’s just quiet sometimes because there are so many thoughts out there to hear and if he’s talking all the time, how is he going to hear them? And maybe new people are scary sometimes, but David is brave. 

The blue cat man’s thoughts are nice, mostly. He reminds David of Papa, except for all the fur. Papa doesn’t have any fur, but he does have the same sort of thoughts as this cat man – quick and smart. But where Papa can hear David’s thoughts right back, the cat man can’t do that. That’s okay, though, because David wouldn’t want someone he just met to be able to hear his thoughts, anyway.

David stays with the blue cat man for three days, and it’s not all bad. They mostly just go to the lab (and David knows all about those), and the cat man lets David play with some vinegar and baking soda. It’s nothing David hasn’t done before, but he likes to get the volcano explosion just right, and the blue cat man even gives him some clay and sand to make it more real. 

The cat man doesn’t feed David cat food either, and that’s good. Which, okay, David knows he’s not _really_ a cat. He’s more like some kind of beast than a cat, if David is being scientific. He sort of reminds David of Sully from Monsters Inc. But just because he’s a monster doesn’t mean he can’t eat cat food. If there’s one thing David’s Papa taught him, it’s not to judge people. If people look like monsters or cats or whatever, they can still be good. And just because someone’s done something bad before doesn’t meant they can’t do good things later. Papa always says that most people can be good, if you give them a chance.

So David gives the blue cat man a chance, and sure enough, he’s a good kitty.

That’s why, when David wakes up in the middle of the night to the blue cat man having an argument downstairs, he knows he’s got to help somehow. He’s not sure how yet, but he’s got ways to helping, even Papa says so. So he creeps out of his room and down the stairs, keeping low and staying quiet. He’s good at being quiet, and not just because he’s shy. When he gets to the bottom of the stairs, he peeks around the corner at the people in the living room.

The blue cat man is there, of course, and he’s arguing with a tall skinny man who’s wearing a black shirt and pants. They both look mad.

The blue cat man is saying, “You can’t just come in here and take him, Erik. I don’t care what kind of hallucinations you’re having. I’m supposed to protect him and right now the thing he needs protected from most is you.”

“Don’t be stupid, Hank,” the man in black says. “I’m not going to hurt him. I couldn’t hurt him.”

His voice is mean, and David scoots back away from the edge of the stairs.

It’s a mistake, though, because the man in black’s head jerks up and he looks directly at David.

David shrinks down even more, trying to pretend he’s invisible. Sometimes that works on people – if David wants them to think something hard enough, they’ll think it. 

_Don’t see me, don’t see me, don’t see me_ , he thinks, scrunching his eyes shut.

The man says, “David?”

He knows David’s name. Why does he know that?

“God,” the man says, but there’s something funny about the way he says it, with too much t-sound at the end.

“David. My David,” the man says, and his voice sounds like the way Papa’s sounded right before he left.

David opens his eyes, and sees the man's close now, crouched down right in front of David. His eyes are wet and David wonders what’s wrong with him.

“Erik,” the cat man says, but the man in black ignores him.

David looks into the man’s eyes – which are blue, like David’s – and he then he looks deeper, into the man’s thoughts.

His thoughts are… not nice, exactly. But not mean, not like his voice was at first. His thoughts are sad, and he thinks a lot about David and about David’s Papa.

“You know my Papa?” David asks.

He’s not supposed to talk to strangers, but this man can’t be a stranger if he knows David’s Papa. 

“Yes,” the man says. “I know your Papa. And you. You’re… you’ve gotten so big, Liebchen.”

Something about that word makes David think someone used to call him that when he was very little. It makes him less afraid.

He says, “Do you know where my Papa is?”

“No,” the man says. “But I’m going to find him. And I want you to come with me. Would you like that?”

David wants to help find his Papa, but his Papa said to stay here. He doesn’t want his Papa to come back and not know where he is.

“What if Papa comes back?” he asks.

The man says, “Your Papa sent me, David. He wanted me to come get you.”

The blue cat man makes a noise, and David looks over at him. He looks scared, and David thinks what he’s scared of is David leaving.

The man in black says, “David, do you still have your star?”

David looks back at him, shocked, because his star is hidden under his shirt, and how does this man know that? He puts a hand over it to keep it safe, because that star is his. 

He’s always had it since forever.

“I’m not here to take it,” the man in black tells him, and David knows he’s not lying. “It’s just that, I have one, too.”

He waves a hand and another star just like David’s floats up from beneath the man’s shirt all on its own. David realizes the man must be making that happen even though he’s not touching it.

“We’re the same, my David,” the man in black says. “We’re alike, you and I. Will you come with me?”

David looks at the star with its six points, still floating in the air.

He says, “My Papa really sent you?”

“Yes,” the man says. “I can prove it. I have the memory. I can’t give it to you, but you can take it. Has your Papa taught you how to do that?”

“I can do it,” David says even though he’s not sure he can all by himself.

But the man makes it so easy. The memory is just there waiting for David to take it.

The memory goes like this: 

__

_Erik dreams of a mirror._

_It’s a lucid dream. Not all of his dreams are lucid, but some are. It’s been happening off and on for the past two years he’s been in prison. It’s usually Charles’s way of showing him something – something he either doesn’t want to or can’t write down on paper. It’s the only way Erik knows what his son looks like now._

_In the dream, Erik’s standing in front of a mirror, but he’s not himself. He sees Charles’s reflection, because this is Charles’s memory._

_With Charles’s voice, Erik says, “I’m sorry for this.”_

_In the mirror, Charles’s mouth moves._

_Erik says, “I need you to know how sorry I am. I know this isn’t what we planned. But Erik… he’s back. He’s back, and I have to go after him. Please don’t be angry with me; I’m the only one who stands a chance and you know it. He’s weak right now and alone, but that’s not going to last. We have to move quickly.”_

_In the mirror, Charles swallows hard and Erik feels it in his throat. His eyes start to prickle._

_Erik says, “I left the boy with Hank. Find him, Erik, and keep him safe. And… you know how much I love you. Don’t forget that. Don’t let David forget that. Keep our son safe, Erik.”_

_Erik wants to argue but he has no control over this body or this dream. He can only watch as Charles brings a shaking hand up to touch the mirror. For just a moment, it’s almost as if their hands touch._

_Then Erik blinks and he’s suddenly awake, heart pounding._

_He wipes the tears from his face. He’s afraid, but he knows what needs done, and he’s been waiting years to do this._

_With a deep breath, he extends his senses and, one by one, fries the cameras on his escape route. Then he stands and moves to the door, electric lock coming open at a touch. He knows the schedule of the guards’ rounds, but even if he meets one of them, they carry only metal sticks and tasers, and Erik fears neither of those. Erik fears nothing except the shadow that hangs over his life and his family. Every other thing he can weather._

_Only one thing matters now: getting to David and keeping him safe. And then he’ll find Charles and together they’ll slay the monster._

_But one thing at a time. David first._

__

David opens his eyes and looks back at the stranger who’s not really a stranger. He’s not dumb and maybe he didn’t understand everything in the memory, but he knows what his Papa’s words meant. 

He says, “You’re my Daddy, aren’t you?” His voice is too quiet, but the man in black hears him.

“Yes,” the man says. “And you’re my David. Will you come with me to find your Papa, Liebchen?”

He holds out his hand.

David looks at him and then back at the cat man, who still looks scared. But David’s not scared. David can help.

David reaches out and takes his Daddy’s hand.


End file.
